Nathan Lawson

Dr. Nathan Lawson is a Professor at UMass Chan Medical School within the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He has multiple affiliations across departments including Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, RNA Therapeutics Institute, and Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology.

• BS in Zoology from University of Rhode Island (1994)
• PhD in Biology from Yale University (1999)
• Postdoctoral work at NIH studying zebrafish angiogenesis
• Joined UMass Medical School in 2002

Lawson's research focuses on developmental angiogenesis and endothelial differentiation using zebrafish models. His work explores:

• Vascular patterning mechanisms
• Endothelial cell heterogeneity
• Genetic models of vascular disease
• Development of knockout technologies

His publications (2015-2025) show expertise in gene editing (CRISPR/Cas9, zinc-finger nucleases), vascular development, and computational genomics. He develops zebrafish disease models for conditions like congenital lymphedema and neurodegenerative disorders.

Lawson's lab (lawsonlab.umassmed.edu) investigates:

• Vascular disease mechanisms
• Notch-VEGF signaling interactions
• Endothelial progenitor cell behavior
• Small molecule screening for vascular therapies